The pool noodle is slipped over the original plastic tube no glue just a tight fit. You can still see the grey tube in the center. That will keep the bolt from cutting up the pool noodle.

Edi: I just read what you said more carefully. the grip is designed to pivot freely on the bolt. That is why it has so much more wrist exercise than normal. you have to stabalize the whole thing. Doing these with your feet on a physio ball is next to impossible.

You know, I was thinking- you know how there's those huge machines that gyms buy, where all they really are is basic levers or pulleys with weights on the end? Think all those pulldown machines. Couldn't you really easily rig one up for a fraction of the price of a commerical one, as long as you already had the weight?

I'm not much of a builder (though reading this thread and others has made me get a hankerin' for some tinkerin'), but here's what I would think would a basic 'plan'. The only hard bit I can think of is finding somewhere to attack the pulley.

One pulley (say, a wheel with a groove carved into it along the circumference, or an old tire holder or something. I'd imagine the smaller the better- you don't want the pulley taking too much of the work.), somewhere to mount it, and say, a chain and a ring-handle like El Macho constructed. Attach one end of the chain to say, a canvas bag full of dumbell/barbell plates, grab the other end, and start pullin'. Ab pulldowns would be an immediate exercise that comes to mind that you can't do without some kind of pulley system, which this sort of rig would be good for.

socratic,
A room mate and I did something like this years ago. We secured a 2'x4' to the ceiling of a wooded deck, inserted a eyebolt into the 2'x4' and attached 4" pulley wheel and used some wire with eyelets at each end and had a metal plate with a one inch diameter pole in the center with an eyelet. Loaded the weight on the pole/plate assembly and attached it to the cable with a "D" clamp and had an assortment of handles, ropes and grips for over head pull downs exercises.

Then one day we got the bright idea to attach another pulley directly below the one one the deck and with some more cable we were able to create a something we could do seated rows, curls, upright rows.

We felt like the caveman that discovered fire after we got it all set up. The nice thing too is it was easy to break down if need be.

Since it is outside and the cable we used wasn't really designed for this we had to keep a can of wd-40 handy.

socratic,
A room mate and I did something like this years ago. We secured a 2'x4' to the ceiling of a wooded deck, inserted a eyebolt into the 2'x4' and attached 4" pulley wheel and used some wire with eyelets at each end and had a metal plate with a one inch diameter pole in the center with an eyelet. Loaded the weight on the pole/plate assembly and attached it to the cable with a "D" clamp and had an assortment of handles, ropes and grips for over head pull downs exercises.

Then one day we got the bright idea to attach another pulley directly below the one one the deck and with some more cable we were able to create a something we could do seated rows, curls, upright rows.

We felt like the caveman that discovered fire after we got it all set up. The nice thing too is it was easy to break down if need be.

Since it is outside and the cable we used wasn't really designed for this we had to keep a can of wd-40 handy.

Sounds like you guys are some handy bastards. Good work man.

For those of us out there who don't know where to get/can't afford kettlebells (I'm becoming a lot more interested in Iranian Clubs and Kettlebells the more I see of them), check out this link from Ross Enemait's sticky'd DIY thread:

If you like a touch of the old school, there's an exercise we do in Uechi Ryu where we hold two weighted urns, one in each hand, with our fingertips while walking in Sanchin. I was shown by one of my instructors how to make a set of your own that is really very easy and works just as well.

Use two empty protein jars. The size of the opening at the top should comfortably fit in your hand but you shouldn't be able to hook your fingertips underneath too much, otherwise you're cheating a bit. You then throw in sand, rocks, or whatever else you can find until it weighs a good couple pounds to start. You then pick one up in each hand and start walking. Try to hold for about 2-3 minutes before you add more weight. It's a pretty fun exercise.

If I had the materials, I'd take pictures of how to make chishi (the rods with weight on one end used in Okinawan karate for strengthening). I have two at home, made them out of coffee cans, quick-drying cement, and PVC pipe.

For those of us out there who don't know where to get/can't afford kettlebells (I'm becoming a lot more interested in Iranian Clubs and Kettlebells the more I see of them), check out this link from Ross Enemait's sticky'd DIY thread:

not really, lets just say boredom and alcohol are a dangerous combination.

Good advice about the do it yourself urns.

I don't have kettlebells but I have been using adjustable dumbbells that I bought from Sears called "yellowjackets" they are square is shape and have three handles one recessed in the middle and two on top at the corners. I use the corner grips to mimmick the kettlebell affect. Not perfect but it is adjustable from 5 lbs. to 45 lbs. and I can also use them as dumbbells as well. They were about $50 per dumbbell, but I received them as an Xmas gift so that was a non-issue for me.

I think El Macho had a previous thread on making your own kettle bells and some adjustable ones as well. Just looking at the adjustable ones you can get an idea of what you would need to make your own.

No dude, that thread was for ghetto-bells (plastic baseball bats filled with sand... where the hell I put those), and how to retrofit dumbbells with a 2" handle. I have two 2-inch thick bastards that weight 80+lbs. They feel like a ton with those handles.

But I think there was indeed a discussion on home-made kettlebells as well as the kettlestack (a kettlebell handle that you can load with regular plates).

The street argument is retarded. BJJ is so much overkill for the street that its ridiculous. Unless you're the idiot that picks a fight with the high school wrestling team, barring knife or gun play, the opponent shouldn't make it past double leg + ground and pound - Osiris

There was a post on Dragondoor at one point about casting your own kettlebells out of cement using a carved Styrofoam mold. As I recall the consensus was generally that unless you were going to make a whole crap ton of them it was more effort than it was worth.

No dude, that thread was for ghetto-bells (plastic baseball bats filled with sand... where the hell I put those), and how to retrofit dumbbells with a 2" handle. I have two 2-inch thick bastards that weight 80+lbs. They feel like a ton with those handles.

But I think there was indeed a discussion on home-made kettlebells as well as the kettlestack (a kettlebell handle that you can load with regular plates).

I liked your Iranian club bells. I'm still tempted to make the metal ones that dude in the vid you posted made though, sheerly for the aesthetics.

Fellas, an important question for some of us (ie me): What can be used as an alternative to weight plates for one's DIY constructions or even barbells and dumbells? At the moment I'm in a money shortage and I'm contemplating whether other junk would be cheaper than going out an buying yet another shitty supertuff set for my screw-lock barbell/dumbells. I mean, for real progression, I figure even a weakling needs about 50 kilos of plates/weight just so he can at least get up to his 5 rep max for some real growth. Me, I don't have that much, and I'm tempted to go DIY about it.

At home, my g/f and I use a whole bunch of ankle weights and bands to increase the weight on a barbell (rather than going and buying more plates.) But we had that stuff already, so it's not really DYI.

I also chains to add weight (about 30lbs extra). I have a set of 25lbs dumbbells with are too light for me, so I link the chains to it. The dumbell can go from 25lbs to about 40lbs when doing an overhead press.

Another option is resistance bands, which is the option I like the most. In the pic below I'm showing the [url=http://www.ironwoodyfitness.com/flex-bands-fitness-bands-comparison.html]Iron Woody bands (I got the starter package for $75) as the red/yellow bands I got at Sports Authority for $15 (there is a harder blue band which is not shown in the picture.) The Sports Authority or similar bands are a good option. The blue band is strong enough to make it a challenge, and so is the red one.

Just wrap one in your hand with a dumbbell and you'll increase the resistance nicely.

The band in the picture is another type of band I own (I own three with different levels of resistance). They are a bit pricier and I don't like the handles, but they are sturdier.

Another cheaper alternative is to use ropes or towels when you use dumbbells and barbells. These are more for arm strenght than for full body movements, though:

A bag of sand (50lbs) provides a nice variation for cleans, overhead presses or squats (while hugging the bag). Just make sure not to bust it. I just got a canvas bag which I'm going to use to build a 100-pounder sandbag.

The street argument is retarded. BJJ is so much overkill for the street that its ridiculous. Unless you're the idiot that picks a fight with the high school wrestling team, barring knife or gun play, the opponent shouldn't make it past double leg + ground and pound - Osiris